USS Maumee (AO-2)-- Part 1: First Navy Ship With Diesel Engines

From Wikipedia.

I wrote about William Tomb in the last post and he commanded the USS Maumee in World War I, a ship noted for refueling six U.S. destroyers on the sea while enroute for England after the U.S. entry into the war in 1917.

There was an earlier USS Maumee which was a gunboat in the Civil War that took part in the attacks on Fort Fisher.

The second USS Maumee was laid down as Fuel Ship No. 14 at Mare Island, California.  When the Navy's ship classifications were introduced in 1920, it became the AO-2.  The "O" standing for oiler.

It was the first surface ship in the Navy to be powered by diesel engines in 1919.  Supervising the engine installation and operation was Executive and Chief Engineering Officer, Lt. Chester W. Nimitz.  This would have been after it had refueled the destroyers in 1917.

It was commissioned in October 1916 and prior to the war, operated off the coast of Cuba.

--Cooter